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The Film Federation of India president, Ravi Kottarakara, has spoken about why the FFI selected Laapataa Ladies instead of All We Imagine as Light as India’s official entry to Oscars 2025. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter India, Ravi said that the jury, after watching All We Imagine as Light felt they were witnessing “a European film taking place in India”. (Also Read | Laapataa Ladies writer Sneha Desai hopes All We Imagine As Light makes it to Oscars race too: ‘I will cheer for them’)
FFI on Laapataa Ladies, All We Imagine as Light
Ravi said, “The jury said that they were watching a European film taking place in India, not an Indian film taking place in India.” He added that the “Indian-ness” of Laapataa Ladies stems from its central plot.
In its citation for choosing Laapataa Ladies for the Oscars, FFI said: “Indian women are a strange mixture of submission and dominance. Well-defined, powerful characters in one world, a Laapataa Ladies (Hindi) captures this diversity perfectly, though in a semi-idyllic world and in a tongue-in-cheek way.
Ravi on FFI citation of Laapataa Ladies
The 13-member all-male jury of FFI, the body which selects India’s entry in the international film category every year, drew ridicule online for their citation.
Reacting to it, Ravi said that it was misinterpreted. “They [the jury] wanted it to be positive. We say that women are like the Goddess Lakshmi [goddess of wealth and good fortune] and Kali [goddess of time, death and violence]. [They are] like Lakshmi, who is always blessing you, and also like Kali — they can hurt you whenever they want.”
What FFI said earlier
Speaking with ETimes, the FFI president had recently said, “In the jury, everyone has to decide the film. The jury liked Laapataa Ladies, and felt that All We Imagine As Light is like a foreign film and not like Indian cinema. When they saw Laapataa Ladies, it represented the plight of the Indian woman.”
“In the film, the women had to wear the goonghat, and because of that, all the misunderstandings occur. They felt that this is something that happens only in India. The jury’s call is the most important call. What happens is, that whenever we send a film, there is always one group opposing it and one group supporting it,” he had added.
About Laapataa Ladies
Laapataa Ladies, helmed by Kiran Rao, has been produced by Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures, and Jio Studios. It released in theatres on March 1, 2024. The film starred newcomers Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, alongside Ravi Kishan and Chhaya Kadam. Laapataa Ladies takes viewers back to rural India in 2001. Its narrative revolves around two brides who get exchanged during a train journey. The journey filled with twists and turns begins as their husbands start searching for the real bride.
About All We Imagine As Light
All We Imagine As Light follows Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a Mumbai nurse whose life is thrown into disarray when she receives a rice cooker from her estranged husband. Divya Prabha plays Anu, her roommate and colleague, who is struggling to find a private spot in the city to spend time with her boyfriend. Prabha’s best friend, Parvati (Chhaya Kadam), a widow, is being forced out of her home by property developers. Payal Kapadia’s film made history by winning the Grand Prix award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
